Sir Terry Pratchett Dead: Words Of Wisdom From Great Author On Living With Alzheimer's Disease

Words Of Wisdom From Sir Terry Pratchett On Living With Alzheimer's Disease
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 18: Portrait of English fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett, photographed to promote the 40th novel in his Discworld series, Raising Steam, on September 18, 2013. (Photo by Kevin Nixon/SFX Magazine via Getty Images)
SFX Magazine via Getty Images
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 18: Portrait of English fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett, photographed to promote the 40th novel in his Discworld series, Raising Steam, on September 18, 2013. (Photo by Kevin Nixon/SFX Magazine via Getty Images)

Sir Terry Pratchett has died at the age of 66, following a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

The announcement was made via his Twitter feed on Thursday afternoon, when a simple tweet read: "The End."

Pratchett was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's in 2007, which he described at the time as an "embuggerance". Until his death he outspoken on the subject and prided himself on being an active patron for Alzheimer's Research UK.

To mark his death, we've pulled together some of his most powerful quotes on living with the disease.

"There isn’t one kind of dementia. There aren’t a dozen kinds. There are hundreds of thousands. Each person who lives with one of these diseases will be affected in uniquely destructive ways."

- in his blog for Alzheimer's Research UK

"'It is possible to live well with dementia and write best-sellers 'like wot I do'.''

"For me, living with posterior cortical atrophy began when I noticed the precision of my touch-typing getting progressively worse and my spelling starting to slip. For an author, what could be worse?"

"I am, along with many others, scrabbling to stay ahead long enough to be there when the Cure comes along."

"By the time you’ve reached your sixties you do know that one day you will die and knowing that is at least the beginning of wisdom.”

- in an interview with The Telegraph in 2012

"If there is indeed an emerging sense – finally – that we’ve stopped pussy footing around dementia and can now bear to utter its name, we nevertheless find a cloud of unknowing persists."

- in his blog for Alzheimer's Research UK

“Knowing that you are going to die is, I suspect, the beginning of wisdom."

- in an interview with Laurie Penny, for The New Statesman

"They say time marches on, and it does, even though I have been running very fast to keep one step ahead of it. I really was looking forward to seeing your smiley, happy faces. Have fun everyone."

- on having to cancel an appearance due to illness, according to The Guardian

SEE ALSO:

Terry Pratchett Dead: Bestselling 'Discworld' Author Dies Aged 66 After Suffering From Alzheimers' Disease

Stars Pay Tribute To The ‘Discworld' Author On Twitter

Sir Terry Pratchett Blogs On HuffPost UK:

Memo After A Day Talking To The Media About Assisted Dying

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